


Finding the Light

by ptw30



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fluffity Fluff Fluff, French Toast and Video Games, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, KuroKuroKuro Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 18:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5215544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ptw30/pseuds/ptw30
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Late KuroKuroKuro Day Fic! Kuroko fights against the shadows, but he can’t win without a light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding the Light

**Author's Note:**

> I figured - three Kuros needs three lights, and here we are! Special thanks to eprime for editing!

Kuroko never liked to remember what was, preferring instead to look toward the future, but every so often he’d think back to the dark days—after Ogiwara-kun moved. Alone. Dark. Solemn. He liked to read, learned to enjoy solitary times, and he wanted for nothing—monetarily, anyway.

His friendship with Ogiwara-kun brought light into his life, especially after school and on weekends. They played for hours at the basketball court, and sometimes Ogiwara-kun would invite him home for dinner. And every time, Kuroko would accept. 

And he smiled. 

But then Ogiwara-kun moved, and Kuroko entered Teikou. At first, it was difficult being alone again, though the darkness was painfully and quietly familiar. 

He was a shadow after all, and he thrived among them just the same. 

But then a light—incandescent and bold—burned through his shadows, not dispersing them completely but holding them at bay. 

“ ‘ey Tetsu!” Aomine called as he came out the locker room, placing his large hand Kuroko’s wet crown. “My ma made saba shioyaki, nikujaga, and sunomono again. Save me, won’t you?”

“But Aomine-kun usually finishes his plate before I even start.”

“Oi! You’re just a slow eater.”

“Aomine-kun becomes a wild panther at the table with horrible manners to match.”

“At least I know how to hold my chopsticks!”

“Would you like a certificate? Perhaps a ribbon.”

“Why you little…” 

And he smiled.

Days once more began bright and loud, filled with friends who became family, and when Kuroko returned to his apartment at night—on the days when he didn’t sleep over Aomine’s or Akashi’s or even Murasakibara’s—he wasn’t alone in his heart so much as in person. 

But the darkness returned. It always did to those born from its abyss, and Kuroko teetered on the edge for a while, listening to its alluring song of misery and defeat. He gave up, quit the team, and though he had a mission, he was sure he’d fail without a light. 

_“When did you get here?”_

_“Nice to see you.”_

_“What the hell are you doing here?”_

Kagami was brash like that, rudely blunt, sometimes more than Kuroko himself, but his fire burned so brightly that Kuroko had to squint when looking at him originally. But for all his similarity to Aomine, Kagami was different. 

“Why you always here?” he asked in that gruff voice one day over a mountain of cheeseburgers. 

Kuroko blinked. He thought it was fairly obvious. “I like the milkshakes.”

“Yeah, I get that, no matter how unhealthy drinking three of those a day is.”

“Says Kagami-kun, who is currently eating his twelfth burger.”

“It’s only my eleventh,” he defended, “but don’t your parents want you home for dinner?”

Kagami’s eyes burned with curiosity and even…concern? 

Kuroko replied in kind, “Do yours?”

Kagami looked away before glancing down at his cheeseburgers; Kuroko’s own face enflamed. They sat in one of the longest stretches of silence they ever had, uncomfortable and stifling, and as Kuroko brought his legs down from his chair, perhaps to leave, Kagami’s head shot up. 

“Want to come to my place tonight? We can do our homework for English—”

Kuroko slurped rather loudly on his milkshake. 

“Fine. I can watch the latest Bond movie while you do your homework, and then I can copy it now instead of in homeroom.”

“Despicable, Kagami-kun. I never let you copy my homework.”

Kagami’s face beamed. “Then you shouldn’t leave your stuff on your desk when you go to the bathroom.”

Kuroko kicked him rather hard under the table but followed anyway. He stayed over that night, then the night after, and he began staying over more frequently, relaxing in the light, until the Touou game. Everything changed then, but thanks to Kiyoshi and his senpai, Kuroko sought out Kagami, explaining his past and professing his appreciation of being a member of Seirin and Kagami’s partner.

Kagami, again, saved him from the darkness, refusing to let him stay in the shadows. 

“You got it wrong again!” Kagami admonished. “We don’t want to be the best. We’re _going_ to be the best.”

“Yes.”

In fact, that night, after they promised to get stronger and fist-pumped on it, Kagami stopped at the crosswalk, half-turning to regard Kuroko with an uncertain frown. 

“You live around here?” 

Kuroko nodded. 

“Closer than my place?”

“Yes.”

“And you kept making me play host, you bastard! We’re going to your place tonight.”

“Kagami-kun, you have to wait for an invitation.”

“You are in no place to lecture me about manners.”

Kuroko sighed but ultimately agreed, though it felt awkward and uncomfortable to have someone enter his “home” after so many years living alone. His parents returned every so often—sometimes together, often times separately—and they “entertained.” But that was different, a sea of strangers to which Kuroko bowed and feigned interest. 

The foyer was dark and uninviting, but Nigou warmed the atmosphere, jumping at Kuroko’s knees before running to Kagami, who patted him on the head with a grumbled, “Hey, Furball.” 

A single light glowed on an entry-way desk, where Kuroko took off his shoes and indicated where Kagami could leave his. 

“I’ll take the Furball out,” Kagami offered. He’d accepted the pup for Kuroko. 

Kuroko admitted, even if only to himself, how much that touched him. “Would you like something to drink?”

The long curtains remained open on the far side, casting enough light from the nearby skyscrapers to illuminate Kagami’s shocked features. He swallowed hard and nodded, apparently taking in all the elegant and luxury touches of the apartment. 

Kuroko retreated to the kitchen, using the light of the refrigerator to guide his way, and took out a few vanilla snacks for himself and other treats for Kagami. The door shutting a few moments later signaled Kagami’s return, but when Kuroko met him with the food and drink, he squinted at the sudden assault to his eyes. 

“Kagami-kun, what are you doing?” he demanded as politely as usual, though irritation found its way into his voice. 

Kagami blinked and motioned innocently to the lamp by the side of the couch. “What? I just put the light on.”

Kuroko blinked, too, taken off guard, before he allowed himself a silent chuckle and a soft smile. “Of course Kagami-kun did.”

“Oi! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing,” Kuroko admitted, handing Kagami his drink before gesturing for Kagami to follow him down the hallway and to his room. “But Kagami-kun doesn’t need to put on a light. He shines all on his own.”

Kuroko imaged the blush on Kagami’s face when the choked noise sounded behind him, but Kagami’s voice was full of wonder when he spoke. “You take this shadow thing waaaaay too far.”

“Do I?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” Kuroko hummed. “I’m not afraid of the dark, Kagami-kun.”

“You’re not?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Kagami grunted. “Then why are you so attracted to light?”

Kuroko stopped, grateful that he stood in front of Kagami as he blinked, but the hallway light flipped on as soon as Kagami found the nearby switch. A massive hand came down to clamp upon Kuroko’s head as Nigou pranced about their socked feet, and Kuroko remained silent, lost in his thoughts. He was a shadow, born from the darkness, and he retreated there, lived there, flourished there. In fact, he’d learn long ago he couldn’t survive in a fight against the light, and if he tried—

“Don’t think too hard. It’ll hurt.”

“That happens a lot to Kagami-kun?”

“Oi! You are such a little bastard!” But Kagami’s growl had no bite. “Stop hiding, Kuroko. You have nothing to fear, letting go of the shadows. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you.”

And he did. 

Kuroko didn’t remember falling asleep, but he jerked awake at Aomine’s loud bellow, “Ooh! You're so going to die! I'm going to kill you!”

“All talk and no follow-through—oh, was that your head?”

“I swear you are going to—”

“Will you two keep it down? You’ll wake Kuroko.”

They already had, but Kuroko didn’t mind. It was Sunday morning, and the distinctive smell of French toast—one of Kagami’s favorite meals to make and eat—wafted past Kuroko’s nose. Blinking, he made out Kagami’s large form, nestled between Aomine and Ogiwara’s slightly smaller ones, sitting crossed-legged in the middle of the futon pile on Kuroko’s floor. They huddled in front of his TV, playing one of the new video games Kagami’s dad brought from America. 

“So?” Aomine fought with his controller. “Once he gets up, we can go play ball.”

“It’s eight o’clock in the morning,” Kagami snapped. 

“So?”

“And I made French toast.”

“We can reheat them. What do you think microwaves are for?”

“Guys!” Ogiwara huffed before glancing behind and sighing as Kuroko sat up, rubbing the sleep from his half-lidded eyes. “Morning, Kuroko. Sorry we woke you.” 

Aomine was up in a shot, abandoning his game and wrapping his arm around Kuroko’s neck. “Dibs!”

“You can’t call dibs on a person!” Kagami admonished. 

“Oh, come on. You get to play with Tetsu all the time. Let me play with him this week.”

“You played with him last week,” Ogiwara interjected. “And maybe Kuroko wants to choose who he wants to play with.”

Kuroko couldn’t help but blink. When had Sundays become a ritual at his house, a gathering of his best friends? When had he begun to turn on lights when he came home and stocking the fridge with the makings for burgers and snacks? When had he invited people into the shadows of his life?

No. When had he been saved from the darkness? 

“Hey, Tetsu! You want to be my partner this week, right?” Aomine coaxed, holding him close. “You want to win.”

Kagami, expectantly, snorted. “Don’t listen to him, Kuroko! We’re going to win this week for sure!”

“Or we will!” Ogiwara inserted. “After all, you two will fight for the ball rather than pass it.”

“Will not!” Aomine and Kagami yelled in union. 

Ogiwara laughed.

And Kuroko smiled. 

The End


End file.
